The South African rand rose today against the U.S. dollar, the second day of gains after the currency tumbled previously, after the EU leaders ensured that the budget cuts won’t bring the European economy down, causing the risk appetite to return; later the rand declined and currently trades near its opening level.

The planned budget cuts are required only from the countries with the significant debts such as Portugal and Spain, while the countries with the lesser debts, like Germany, won’t be touched by the cuts. This caused the risk appetite to improve somewhat, though the concern remains that the planned measures won’t ward off the crisis.

USD/ZAR traded today at about 7.547 as of 11:35 GMT after it opened at 7.546 and reached its daily low of 7.495.

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